Quick Facts
- 874 acres of oak woodlands spanning the Raccoon Creek and Bear River watersheds
- Consists of four separate but adjacent preserves (click on each link for more information on the individual preserves):
- 7+ miles of trails for hiking and biking – not yet open to the public due to limited access, but you can sign up for docent-led hikes to see the Big Hill Preserves.
- Next to Placer County’s Hidden Falls Regional Park, and additional preserved land along the Bear River, creating a ~4,800-acre block of preserved land in this area!
- All four Big Hill Preserves support sustainable cattle grazing by local ranchers
Vision
The Big Hill Preserves were the result of a shared vision to permanently protect critical lands in the Raccoon Creek (formerly Coon Creek) and Bear River watersheds. This region includes the largest remaining unfragmented oak woodlands in Placer County, and one of the last relatively “wild” areas in western Placer County. We wondered if it would be possible to work with willing landowners to keep this area wild through voluntary land conservation agreements. In 2002, Placer Land Trust joined a workgroup including Placer County, Bear Yuba Land Trust (formerly known as Nevada County Land Trust), Sierra Business Council, Trust for Public Land, and the California Department of Fish & Game to collaborate on planning and setting priorities for this regional land conservation effort, looking to maximize the public benefit of our work to protect oak woodlands, wildlife corridors and habitat, agriculturally productive rangelands, public recreation possibilities, scenic vistas, rivers and streams. Working with others increased our chances of protecting larger parcels of land, and land that was adjacent to other preserves to create a larger impact.
Objectives
The workgoup described above believed that a sensible mixture of privately held “nature reserves” and publicly accessible recreation lands in this area would allow the public to enjoy the resources of the area while still protecting its ecological values. Objectives included:
- Permanently preserve land:
- along the river and stream corridors
- between and connecting the Bear River and Raccoon Creek watersheds
- at other places in the watershed that provide excellent conservation values
- Link existing conservation areas to other conservation areas and public lands
- Provide public access to preserved lands when such access is permissible and consistent with the resource protection
A Conservation Success
Great progress has been made since the workgroup formed in 2002. Placer Land Trust was extremely pleased to work with a number of willing landowners, and we thank the Taylor, Freiheit, Fang, Johnston, and Boyd families for working with us to protect the Big Hill Preserves. As of 2018, Placer Land Trust has protected over 3,600 acres of land between Raccoon Creek and the Bear River. In addition to our Big Hill Preserves, other preserves in this area include Bear River Pinecroft Preserve, Garden Bar Preserve, Harvego Bear River Preserve, and Shutamul Bear River Preserve. And we’re still working on more!
Placer County has also protected several ranches along Raccoon Creek, and has opened much of this land to the public as the 1200-acre Hidden Falls Regional Park . Our neighboring partner Bear Yuba Land Trust has also protected land along the Bear River, including several contiguous preserves that are on the opposite shore from Placer Land Trust’s Garden Bar Preserve.
These preserves are grazed by livestock, which assists in reduction of fuel loads. For the protection of livestock and wildlife, no pets are allowed on the preserves.
Funding
Taylor, Kotomyan and Liberty have been protected since April 2007 with funds from the State of California, Placer County, California Wildlife Foundation, California Wildlife Conservation Board and Emigrant Trails Greenway Trust. Outman was added in August 2012 with funding from the Caltrans Environmental Enhancement & Mitigation Program, Placer County, California Wildlife Foundation, PLT member donations, and the former landowners.
Trails & Recreation
The workgroup hopes that the contiguous preserved lands in this area can eventually be linked together by a public trail network. Placer Land Trust and Placer County are currently working together, along with adjoining landowners, to connect the trails at Hidden Falls Regional Park, upstream along Raccoon Creek with the trails at Big Hill, then north to trails along the Bear River. While Placer County is focusing on the planning associated with an expanded trail system (including traffic and a new parking/access location), Placer Land Trust continues to work with willing landowners and conservation partners to protect lands in the Big Hill area for broad public benefit, including recreation. Large-scale goals like a public trail system take time, but we are confident that our efforts will have a positive impact on Placer County for current and future generations!
To visit the Big Hill Preserves, visit our event calendar for guided hikes and activities coming up in this area.
Click here for more trails that are currently open to the public.
